What Was His
by IceCoatedHeart
Summary: Someone walks into Logan's life he never expected, she's smart, sexy and vicious, but that's not all (X2 spoilers)
1. C h a p t e r O n e

It was dark in the room, so dark that he could hardly see the hand he held out in front of his face. Logan grumbled and turned over to his side and glanced at the glowing red numbers of the clock. Biting back an oath, he registered that it was still 3 in the morning, and wishing it wasn't wouldn't make it so.  
  
He set his teeth as he swung his long legs over the edge of the bed and placed them on the icy cold floor. He felt his way out of the room and entered the dimly lit hallway into the grouped kitchen. When he wrenched open the door of the refrigerator and when there was no beer, he considered 'borrowing' Scott's precious motorcycle and picking some up.  
  
Before he could make a decision, the phone rang. Though he was annoyed enough when the phone rang at all, it grated his already thin nerves when the incessant ringing started. With lightening speed he reached out and answered it.  
  
"What do you want?" He growled into the phone. There was a slight pause before a smooth feminine voice asked. "How long as it been Logan? It's 16 years now isn't it?" He nearly dropped the phone as it heart began to beat like a hummingbird's. "Who is this?" He asked, trying not to let the panic creep into his voice. "Oh you'll know in time"  
  
He wanted to hang up the phone, but he couldn't, he could only listen to the woman's voice on the other end of the line. "There's something I want of you," She said after a moment of uneasy silence. "I'm not doing a damn thing until you tell me who you are" She sighed. "If you don't do as I ask, then you'll never know who I am" As much as Logan hated to admit it, she made sense.  
  
"What do you want?" He asked. "Very good," She all but purred. "Tomorrow evening at exactly 9:35 in the morning, I want you to be at O'Brien's. I trust you know where it is" She said referring to the bar he used to haunt. "Yeah, I know where it is, but what do you want with me?" She laughed softly. "You'll find out when you get there" Then the line clicked and went dead.  
  
He turned and stifled the scream in his throat to a manly yelp when he nearly plowed into Scott. "Who were you talking to?" He asked, regarding Logan with general distaste. "No one," Logan said and pushed himself by Scott who was looking after him.  
  
Logan wasn't even going to pretend he could fall back asleep as he lay on his back with his hands clenched, waiting to box the shadows. The morning slowly crept out of the night and with it brought the dread in Logan's heart. When he heard the others begin to move about it was 7, yet he didn't leave the room till 8.  
  
He sat at the table with the others and tried not to notice the way Scott was looking at him from behind his dark lenses. "You look tired" Storm commented as she slid him a mug of coffee. "He had a late call," Scott commented lazily as he poked at the cooling bacon. Jean looked up with a raised eyebrow. "Who were you talking to?" She asked with the mug raised to her lips. Suddenly angry, he shoved away from the table. "Why the hell does it matter?" and stormed off.  
  
Sitting on the edge of his bed he ran her lean fingers through his thick dark hair and stared at the stark white walls and thought back to the first time he saw Xavier's school It was a year now and he wasn't as angry as he used to be, but he was far from contented with staying in one place in too long.  
  
9:20 rolled around and he began to think of excuses not to show up, he was sick, there was a death in the family, preferably his death. But he hated excuses so he forced himself to dress in rough work jeans, scarred boots and a white shirt.  
  
Ten minutes later, he slammed the door to the sleek black Jaguar and slowly walked into O'Brien's while the snow crunched and melted under his boots. He pulled the old wooden door open and walked into the smoky pub. There was hardly anyone there except for the bartender Mike who owned the place, and the hard drinkers with blood-shot eyes.  
  
Amongst them was a woman wearing jeans and a shirt cut a little too low that revealed peeks of her creamy white cleavage. Over the bar radio, Etta James was telling everybody how her love at come along and her lonely days were over. As if sensing he was there even before she looked at him, the woman angled her head towards him and pierced him with her deep dark chocolate brown eyes.  
  
He checked his watch, it was 9:35 and she was the only woman there, but she looked young, too young to have so much mistrust in her pretty eyes. He slowly walked towards her and she continued to regard him uneasily. "Logan Hill?" She asked, the same smooth voice he had heard on the phone. "Yeah. What's this about kid? I'm not in the mood for games" She rose from the stool and Logan realized she was taller then he expected; however it was mostly leg.  
  
"I'm Kelly Morgan wish I could have explained more over the phone, but I rather to have told you in person" He nodded briskly and did a quick once- over of her. Her hair was cropped shorter then his and the color of toasted chestnuts that gleamed when the dim lights hit it just right. "That's great. What do you want with me kid?" Trying not to seem hurt by his brisk tone, reached into her purse and pulled out a envelope and handed it to Logan. He opened it and felt his heart do a quick jolt. What he saw was a woman he had been in love with some many years ago. "Annie," He said quietly as he traced her pretty face with his fingertips. "How'd you get this?" He demanded, trying not to let his voice shake. "She's my mother," Kelly said as she sipped the water Mike had gotten her. "She was married?"  
  
Kelly shook her head slowly. "No, she died 2 months ago. Before she died she told me about my father. Logan," She said as she slowly turned on the stool to face him. "You're my father" At that moment, Logan thought he had swallowed his tongue. "Why would you say that?" He asked. Kelly shrugged a slim shoulder and sipped again.  
  
"You were the first man she slept with, plus she wasn't a mutant" Too many emotions began to swirl in his brain. "And?" He asked. With an exhausted sigh, Kelly stood from the stool and as she fixed her own dark eyes onto his, sizzled and disappeared with a pop. Too dreary too care about a mutant, the few patrons continued to nurse their drinks. She reappeared behind him and placed her hands on her hips.  
  
"There you go" She said and ran her fingers through her hair and raised a challenging eyebrow. "When you were 19 you slept with my mom, you split and 9 months later she had me" Before Logan could say anything, Kelly shook her head "I'm 16 years old, my mom's been sick for the past 3 years and I've basically been taking care of myself since then, I just wanted you to know that I exist"  
  
She turned and headed towards the door, as she pulled it open, letting the harsh winter light into the pub, Logan caught her by the arm. "Look you can't just tell me something like that and walk off" Staring at his hand gripping her arm, she was filled with something she couldn't describe. "Well what are you going to do about it?" She asked.  
  
At a loss for words, he shrugged. "I don't know" He said helplessly. "Yeah. See you had 16 years to try to get to know me and now that I'm old enough to take care of myself to want to get to know me? That's real good Slick" With that she twisted out of his grasp and into the bitterly cold morning air. 


	2. C h a p t e r T w o

When Logan returned, it had started to rain softly. The soft patter of the rain on the attic roof would have lulled him to sleep if he weren't worrying about Kelly. There were only 2 women in his life that he had truly loved. Annie Morgan and Jean Gray  
  
Now there was Kelly. She was a mystery just as her mother had been, beautiful and dangerous at the same time with eyes as dark as sin. He couldn't help but wonder where she was when the rain began to get heavier and the sky got ominously darker. With a bitter oath, he pushed away from the desk he was sitting at and went to find the professor.  
  
Professor Charles Xavier was sitting in his office, his wheelchair facing the window that looked over the wide green garden that had just began to bloom. Logan didn't even bother to knock and just walked into the office. "Professor.." Logan began but didn't finish. "I know why you're here" Charles said without turning around. "Of course you do" Logan mumbled and shifted uneasily. "So what am I supposed to do about it?" Logan demanded. "Well she's a 16-year-old mutant with a spine and a sharp clever brain, we could use someone like her" Logan raised an eyebrow and rubbed the bridge of his nose with the back of his hand. "She's already pissed off at me, there's no way I could convince her to come live in a mutant academy" "Have you tried?" Charles asked calmly, still not facing him. "No" Charles laughed softly. "Then how do you know it won't work?"  
  
More annoyed by logic then he was when he walked into Charles's office, he stormed down the hallway and would have plowed into Kurt had he not so expertly disappeared in a cloud of dark blue smoke. "You should walk with your eyes open" He commented with his thick German accent. "Why? You wouldn't have felt it anyway," Logan said in distaste. "What's the matter?" Kurt asked as he began to follow him down the long hall. "I'm in a bad mood" Logan said and continued to take long strides forward. "If there is something I've learned," Kurt began "Is that you're in a bad mood all the time" With a withering look before he slammed the door to his room, he said "Then you've learned a lot"  
  
Miffed by the fact that doors, of course, couldn't keep Kurt out, he turned to meet him face to face with the sharp-toothed almost demonic looking thing if it weren't for the sweet demur he radiated. "What's is trouble?" He asked. "You haven't known me long enough" He said and pushed past Kurt as he pulled off his wet shirt. "This is true," Kurt agreed as he nodded slowly "But of what Storm has told me, it seems no one has really known you at all"  
  
Hating to admit that he wanted to tell Kurt what was bothering him, he pulled on a dry black shirt and sat on the edge of the bed. Kurt stood in front of him and watched him smoothly out of his eerie yellow eyes. "I know you loved Dr.Jean" Kurt said and watched the look on Logan's face come and go in the blink of an eye. "Yeah I loved her, so did Scott and Storm and Bobby and Charles-" Kurt shook his head "No, you LOVED her, I could tell by the way you would look at her when you thought people weren't looking" He insisted "but I was always looking"  
  
Logan didn't care at all for the tightening feeling he was getting in his chest or the stinging at the back of his eyes, so he pushed them away. "You really want to know what the problem is Kurt?" Logan asked almost bitterly. When Kurt only stared at him, he continued. "The problem is that I loved someone before Jean, a woman named Annie Morgan, the only woman I thought I could love, so we made love and then I had to leave. Before I left, she never told me that she was pregnant with a girl"  
  
Kurt nodded slowly. "Now this girl wants you to take care of her?" Logan almost laughed. "Kelly? Hell no, I don't think she could be more independent if she tried. A rebellious little thing she is, looks like a pixie and a voice like a siren, but there's someone I see in her." "Who?" Kurt asked. Logan smiled softly. "Me when I was her age. Kinda angry at the world.. Well I still am but that's not the point" Kurt raised an eyebrow and sat on the bed next to Logan.  
  
"When my family back in Germany was taken away, I thought that it was the end of the world, nothing to live for. Then I was forced to join the Mutant Circus, where I became the Amazing-" "The Amazing Nightcrawler, yeah we know" "Right. When I had joined I knew no one, I had no family at all and became very depressed. All I know is that if I were you, I would be happy to know that I had any family at all. So I think that instead of thinking about the bad, think about the good"  
  
Logan tilted his head to the side as he considered it. "Yeah, except I have no idea where she is" As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he knew what Charles had meant. "Exactly," He said as he rose from the bed and walked to the door in long even strides, before he wrenched open the door to leave, he turned back to Kurt. "You're not as stupid as you look," He said with a lope-sided smile. Before he left, he added. " You're wrong about something though Kurt, I never loved Jean," He took a deep sigh he continued. "I love her" Then he left.  
  
As Charles Xavier had expected, he saw Logan at the opening of Cerebro. "Glad you finally caught on" Charles said, his light blue eyes sparkling. "Yeah, so do you think you can find her?" Logan asked as he tapped his foot impatiently. Charles smiled cockily. "I can find anyone in the world at any time, just need a little bit of concentration" Logan smiled widely. "Now look who's getting cocky"  
  
The cold steel doors of Cerebro hissed open and Logan supposed he would never get over the quick way his heart stumbled when he saw the narrow hovering walkway that led to the steel chair connected to, what Logan considered, the creepiest machine he'd ever seen. "I'll need her name" Charles said as he assisted himself from his wheelchair into the bolted metal chair and lifted the helmet onto his head. "Kelly Morgan" Logan said as the room started to get darker.  
  
Charles didn't say anything for what seemed a lifetime, but in fact at the longest, it would have been 5 minutes. When his eyes opened again, Charles looked up at the domed ceiling then let his eyes slide over to Logan and watched him for a long second. "She's beginning to resemble our dear Rouge, she's at the train station, leaving in 10 minutes to Florida" Logan drag his hands through his hair and sighed. "Should I send Scott or Storm after her?" Logan had to resist the urge to laugh out loud. "No, she doesn't know them. I'll go"  
  
Instead of taking Scott's motorcycle like he had so long ago, he stepped into the sleek black Jaguar and stepped heavily on the gas and shot out of the garage. As he was appreciating the speed of the wonderful machine beneath him, he was almost sad to see the station rising before him like a brick monster. He left the beloved car in the nearly full parking lot, he went to find Kelly.  
  
It didn't take him as long as he had expected. After asking the old wrinkled stationmaster, he had been pointed in the direction of which Kelly had gone. According to Logan's watch, he had 4 minutes to convince Kelly not to get on the train.  
  
She was slouched in her ugly orange chair and didn't look up at Logan even though she knew he was at her side, watching her intently with his dark eyes which she must have inherited since her mother's eyes were a pale green. "What are you doing her?" She asked, looking down at her shoes, which had seen better days, much better days. "I don't know yet" Logan muttered before he crouched in front of her so he could meet her gaze, which, Logan noted with shock, was surprisingly sad. "You're running aren't you?" When she didn't answer, he took a seat next to her. "Yeah. When I was your age I wanted to run away to California. Sunshine and blonde surfer pussy galore" With new interest in the man who was supposedly her father, she asked. "Why didn't you?" He shrugged a broad shoulder and sighed. "I don't know. I guess I figured that you could change the scene but no the situation. It's better to face whatever problems you have rather then running away"  
  
Kelly thought he couldn't see her as she wiped quickly at a tear that had slipped over her cheek, but he had and his heart began to open to this fascinating creature. "So you're making me stay in New York?" She asked as she angled her head to the side to get a good view of him. "Well I can't make you do anything, but I know a place for people like us" "Uh-huh, and what kind of place is this?" She asked as she kicked lazily at her bag that was sitting by her feet.  
  
"It's a school run by a guy who's okay. I mean he's not going to expose us to the world and make a big deal about it. You can get a good education and learn more about your power" Sensing that he had won her over, Logan continued. "There are kids your age that you could really get along with" "Yeah like who?" Kelly asked, peering at him warily. "A girl Rogue, she's 17 and I think you two would get along pretty well. Her boyfriend Bobby, he makes ice and shit like that"  
  
I can't make you go Kelly, but I thought I would just pitch the idea out there" He rose to leave, it was true he couldn't make her go, but he had kept her so occupied, she didn't know that she had missed the last call for her train, and that he had ever so carefully taken the ticket from her fingers and ripped it in two as he stuffed it in his pocket. He was almost out the door when he heard Kelly come behind him.  
  
"If you're my father, and I'm 100% sure that you are, how come you don't disappear?" She went to his side and Logan noted that she smelled like fresh rain and honey. "Because I have the ability to heal quickly" She smiled and Logan realized how pretty that made her look. "What do they call you then? Quickie?" Logan laughed. "No, no they don't. They call me Wolverine" She looked confused. "Why would they call you that?" She asked with a minnow of a light eyebrow raised. With an evil smile he flicked his wrists and the deadly gleaming blades came out on command.  
  
When her mouth dropped agape he retracted them and draped an arm over her shoulder and pulled him closely to his side. "That's why" As they sat in the car driving back to the academy and Kelly busied herself with the colorful buttons on the dash, Kelly asked "I know it seems a little pointless to ask now," She began "But are you alright with being my father?" He raised an eyebrow. "Well you're right about one thing, it is pointless to ask" Stiffing her spine and lifting her chin as if she expected him to hit her she said "Look if you want me to go then just-" "No" Logan interrupted. "I'm alright with it, it's just going to take some time"  
  
There was a moment of silence as they drove back and as Logan parked in the garage and reached over to take Kelly's bag, he caught her looking at him with interest. "What?" He asked as he started around to the back entrance of the academy. "Nothing, I was just wondering what I am supposed to call you" "What do you mean?" He asked as he pulled the door open. "I can't call you Logan and I don't really feel right calling you Dad straight away, so what do I call you?" He grinned, showing his insultingly white teeth and winked. "Call me Slick" 


	3. C h a p t e r T h r e e

Kelly made the choice that she would like Logan. He wasn't like the other men she had met along the way. He was sexy; certainly, he had a rough edge about him that made him almost irresistible. The only problem Kelly discovered was that he was her father, and thinking that way about your father was wrong, very wrong.  
  
As she followed a pretty black girl with platinum blonde hair down the long hallway, she slowly absorbed all that was around her. "So," Storm said slowly "Logan's your father?" Kelly looked around as the door whooshed open. "Yeah he is, why do you like him or something?" Storm smiled slowly. "I don't swim in other people's pool" Kelly raised an eyebrow and Storm laughed. "He loved someone else and though she could never really admit it, she loved him too" Kelly's lips tipped in a small smile. "Sure"  
  
The room was more then Kelly ever expected. The walls were painted garden pink and the bed was covered with thick white blankets to ward off the chill in the night. "Is something wrong?" Kelly bit the inside of her cheek to keep the tears from welling in her eyes. "No it's great," She said as she wandered and felt the smooth silk of the curtains between her fingers. "Really great" Storm watched her for a moment then smiled softly. "I'll let you get unpacked"  
  
Kelly was packed and washed in 10 minutes and she took the rest of the time to root through the cabinet that loomed like a silent giant. To her surprise, there were beautiful dresses and skirts and jeans stocked in the closet. There was a sudden movement behind her and Kelly grabbed something for defense, spun around and nearly screamed.  
  
Kurt was standing close to her, very close and his eyes peered at her with his eerie eyes. "Who are you?" She asked, trying to keep her voice from trembling. "Kurt Wagner, but in the Munich Circus I was known as the Incredible Nightcrawler" She carefully replaced the delicate skirt she was holding. "You're the girl that Mr.Logan has told me about" Kelly forced herself to smile. "Yes, I'm Kelly Morgan" She held out a delicate hand that Kurt decided looked too fragile to touch, so he didn't.  
  
"You're very pretty" Kurt said a little nervously and sat on the bed. "Thank you," Kelly said as she fussed with her short cap of hair. "Do you know my father well?" She asked as she turned to look through the closet again. "No. I have only known his a few weeks, the pain is still fresh for him" At this Kelly turned around and gazed at Kurt.  
  
"Pain? What pain?" Kurt seemed hesitant to answer, so Kelly pushed on. "Kurt what pain?" She asked again. "There was a woman, a Dr.Jean Gray who Mr.Logan was very taken with. But Dr.Jean already had a lover, Mr.Scott Summers, who I don't know if you have met" Kelly shook her head and waited for Kurt to continue.  
  
"A week ago," He began again. "There was trouble with a dam, and Dr.Jean went outside to try to stop the water from destroying the plane, and she never came back. Mr.Logan has been having these nightmares or visions it seems of her now, seeing her where she shouldn't be seen" A feeling that Kelly hadn't felt for a long time began to flood (if you can forgive the pun) her heart as she thought about the pain that he must have gone through. 'Still going through' she added mentally.  
  
"I didn't know," Kelly said softly. "You couldn't have. I liked Dr.Jean very much myself, I believe I am going to miss her terribly." Kelly smiled sadly and Kurt patted her hands. "So," She said as she tried to change the subject. "What is your mutant.thing?" "I'm a telaporter, however if I can't see where it is I'm supposed to go, I could end up in a wall or in the ocean" Kelly nodded. "Can you show me?" She asked almost childishly. "To where?" Kelly shrugged a shoulder. "To the side of the room" Kurt smiled, showing his pointed teeth and vanished in a swirl of inky blue smoke she had the urge to reach out and touch.  
  
He reappeared at the window, holding a dress. "This would look beautiful on you tonight at dinner, when you meet the others" Kelly was too distracted by the gorgeous dress that was made of silk so soft it felt like water. "Hmm? The others?" Kurt nodded as he watched her. "Yes, the ones you will be going to school with if you are to be staying?" There was a slight pause. "You are staying?" Kurt asked a little hopefully. "Yeah," Kelly said as she snapped out of her daydream and looked up at Kurt to smile. "Yeah I'm staying"  
  
After Kurt informed her that she should be down at the dining hall, which wasn't very hard to find, at 8 o'clock, he left her alone for time to prepare. Slowly she lay down on the huge bed and admired the dress Kurt had picked for her. The color of the dress was hard for her to describe, but she finally came to the conclusion that it was the color of lilacs that had just bloomed.  
  
She traced a finger down the delicate seems of the dress, sleep slowly crept upon her and lulled her into its warm embrace. She awoke to the feeling of eyes on her and she sat up with a start to see a girl with long brown hair streaked with blonde staring at her. "What is it with people in this place staring at you? Christ" She said as she rubbed sleepily at her eyes. "Yeah you must be Logan's daughter" Rogue said as picked at the lent on her sleek black sweater. "Yeah so what if I am?" For reasons Kelly supposed she would never be able to explain, she felt more comfortable around men then she did with other girls.  
  
"They wanted me to come remind you that it was almost 8 o'clock, and to see if you needed any help" Kelly, still disoriented from being awoken from her first pleasant slumber in a long time, reached down and picked up the dress that Kurt suggested that she should wear. "No. I'm just gonna wear this and be a good little trained monkey tonight" Rouge seemed confused and just a little miffed. "If that's how you're going to act then that's what you're going to be seen as for as long as you're here"  
  
Kelly ignored it and rolled her stiff shoulders. "Say you don't know where there might be any chocolate do you?" She asked as she pulled the sheets away. "We're about to eat dinner" Rogue began primly. "Yeah I know that, but I want chocolate" Rogue rolled her eyes and picked out a pair of ice pick heeled flats to go with the dress and tossed them on the bed, just nearly missing Kelly's head.  
  
After giving up on the notion of chocolate, Kelly shimmied out of her clothes and wandered into the connecting bathroom and was pleased and intrigued to find rows of glass bottles and containments filled with lotions, scents and various powders with the softest brushes. She pulled open a draw and let out a small squeal of delight when she found trays of makeup.  
  
She painted her face for a while until her eyes were big and glamorous, her cheeks a pretty dandelion pink, and her mouth looking sleek and glossy. She slipped into the dress and loved the way it gently whispered against her bare thighs when she walked. She stepped into the shoes and went back into the bathroom to experiment with the perfumes and powders.  
  
When she emerged, she smelled like a garden on wildflowers and didn't notice the time on the clock, which hovered just over the mirror. When she did notice it, the time had just ticked to 8:25 and she began to panic a little. Would they be angry? Would they ask her to leave? She didn't know, however she did know that if they did ask her to leave, she had no where to go and that she would willingly shot herself before she went back to where she had come from. She didn't have much to loose anyway.  
  
She found the dining hall and walked in sheepishly as the heels clicked soundly on the marble tiles. All eyes seemed to be on her and she had to fight back the almost hysterical giggle that was rising like sour bile in her throat. She noticed that Logan wasn't there, the empty chair confirmed it. "Where's, um, Logan?" She asked, almost stuttering. "Why?" A boy with pitch-black hair asked. "Can't hack it without him?" Storm sent the boy a furious stare. "Ben, unless you want to discover just how badly I can ruin your life," A man she guessed must have been the Scott Summers that Kurt had told her about, commented lazily. "I suggest, that you best shut up and give Ms.Morgan your seat. Don't worry Kelly, Logan doesn't normally show up until everyone else is gone"  
  
Ben rose guilty before Kelly could say anything. She slowly walked to the seat, which was just emptied and tried to apologize for being late. "I really am sorry, time just seemed to pass by so quickly and-" There were footsteps in the hallway. "Save it kid, they don't want to hear it" Kelly couldn't help but smile when she heard Logan's voice coming from the threshold. She looked up from pushing the green vegetables around on her plate and nearly grinned. "You're late Slick" Logan nodded at Kelly and smiled at the dress she was wearing and how it seemed to showcase every precious curve of her body.  
  
He sat across from Kelly and stretched out his long legs. When he looked up again, he didn't see Kelly, but instead he saw Jean smiling back at him, her dark cherry hair perfectly in place and her doe brown eyes filled with a mix of innocence and pure sexuality. "Jean?" Logan asked and received a few odd looks, especially from Scott. "They're starting again, aren't they Logan?" Storm asked him rather sympathetically as Scott murmured something that no one else could hear, but Kelly guessed by the way his bottom lip sort of quivered, it had to do with his lost love.  
  
With an impatient growl, Logan pushed away from the table so violently that a few of the glasses knocked over and stained the white satin with various drinks. At a loss of what else to do, Kelly quickly rose and went after him, following the sound of his brisk footsteps down the hall. Deciding that she would never be able to catch up with him, since his legs seemed to be miles long, Kelly debated about were he would be as she sizzled and snapped.  
  
Logan stifled the scream into a manly yelp when Kelly suddenly appeared in front of him. "What is going on?" She asked as he continued to walk away, yet she dogged his heels in a way that would have made Jean smile. "It's none of your concern" He said and Kelly sighed deeply and let the harsh tone roll off her. "Yes it is. Who's Jean?" She asked as if she didn't already know, but she wanted to see if Logan would tell her the truth, something she realized other adults rarely did.  
  
" A woman I knew is all," He said coldly and tried to walk away again, but Kelly had managed to slither in front of him and blocked his passage way. "That's bullshit" She said almost cheerfully and had Logan raising an eyebrow. "Excuse me?" Kelly smiled widely and repeated it. "Kurt and Whatsherface told me all about her, how you love her, so why bother to lie about it?" Logan gave up on trying to get around her and turned to walk the other way, yet she had managed to do the same thing.  
  
"Because sometimes lying is the easiest thing in the world to do. Yeah I love Jean, so what's the big deal? She's dead now and that's that, I have a theory called 'wishing don't make it so' and just because I wish that Jean could be here today and that I wish I had told her I was in love with her don't make it so either. And so maybe I see her ghost or whatever the fuck it is, doesn't everybody?" Moved by his sudden anger that made his face light put almost frighteningly, Kelly risked saying "No. No they don't Slick. They're worried about you because of it"  
  
Logan darted his furious glare to the ground, stained glass window, to the ceiling then finally to Kelly. "You've been here for 2 hours, what could you know about it?" Trying not to let his tone affect her mood but failing, Kelly angled her chin so she could look directly into his burning eyes with her own. "A whole lot more then you think" Then sizzled away to nothing. 


	4. C h a p t e r F o u r

She didn't want to deal with anyone at that moment, but she decided that she didn't have a chance against Kurt. She paced the room like an angry tiger, like Kurt had seen Logan do a million times. He was crouched silently in the corner of the dark room so Kelly didn't see him.  
  
She had kicked off the shoes, but the dress was billowing like wings behind her with each sharp turn she was making Kurt think of a pixie muse he had once known in Munich by the name of Erato, she was a wiz at love poetry.  
  
Her hair was mused and Kurt felt an odd fluttering in his chest that he wasn't sure if he cared much for. She turned to the bed and pulled at her black bag until it opened. She tossed out the shirts and jeans she had and few pairs of shoes before Kurt decided to show up.  
  
"You really should fold them you know" She bit her lip so she wouldn't scream, but Kurt could tell how her spine stiffed. "Right," She said as roughly grabbed a pair of scuffed jeans and folded them almost angrily. "What's the matter?" He asked. Kelly turned away from him and ran her fingers through her hair. "My father is a jerk, what more do you want?" Kurt shrugged. "I want to know why you think that?" Kelly laughed and shook her head "I don't think, I know"  
  
Still not understanding why two people who couldn't be more fitted for each other as a family couldn't get along, he began to get annoyed, and though while he didn't like to admit it, when he got annoyed, things got pretty ugly. "Come with me," He said as he wrapped his arms around her from behind. Kelly tried to jerk away but before she could, they were gone.  
  
They were crouched on the barn rafters where they could see Logan pacing around the barn that held the couple of horses that Charles insisted they keep. There was something off about his gait. It seemed hitched compared to the smooth easy way he stalked the school grounds. Kelly could hear the easy beat of Kurt's heart and she relaxed, it was so soothing she would have fallen asleep if it weren't for the occasional nickering of the horses.  
  
He looked up at the rafters but didn't see them and Kelly's heart thumped sadly when she saw the tears glittering in Logan's eyes in the dim light. He looked over to his side and muttered something but Kelly couldn't hear him, but his firm lips were moving, making out the words.  
  
Kurt slowly took her in her arms and Kelly thought that it meant that they were going to leave, but he simply held her close to his warm body. All her life she had wanted to know her father, to belong to a man who could take care of her and just love her. She never expected that the same man would have a terrible temper, but even though he tries to hide it, a very soft heart that has a few scars.  
  
"I want to go," Kelly murmured softly so Logan couldn't hear and Kurt nodded. They disappeared and ended up standing in the middle of the money green field. "I haven't known Mr.Logan that long, I don't know his past or where he has come from, but I know that he tries, but he's not as always tough as he seems. Just because he's a mutant doesn't mean that he doesn't hurt like everyone else"  
  
Kelly angled her chin so she could look up into Kurt's eyes that gave her a chill yet burned her at the same time. "And how have they hurt you Kurt?" He avoided her eyes for a minute, they were too dark and the long inky black lashes framed them perfectly and made Kurt's chest flutter. "You're too young to know" Kelly rolled her eyes and took his hand as they walked back to the wooden double doors of the school.  
  
Logan didn't arrive back for another hour and had the faint aroma of horses. He pretty much ignored Rogue when she questioned him, he brushed her off easily as if she were a puppy and went into the bathroom and dunked his whole head in bathtub of icy water and went back into his room to sleep till the sunrise. 


	5. C h a p t e r F i v e

It was her first night in the room and she couldn't sleep, As if she were a child again, she imagined that the shadows were strange monsters coming to get her. She was curled in a fetal position in the middle of the big bed and breathed in the soft feminine scent of fresh laundry and peppermint, and by the time it was near midnight, she was lulled asleep.  
  
Her dreams were a mix of colors and sound, she saw her mother Annie, so pretty with her long blonde hair and her soft summery green eyes and full lips. She saw Logan, looking dangerous and manly, hearing his agitated voice, the way his dark eyes grew a ring of burnished gold when he was really mad, it all seemed real enough that she could reach out and touch it.  
  
The rest of her night was dreamless and cold as steel. She was trapped in her dreams; the eerie calm of the dark and void of loneness she felt yet couldn't escape. When she woke up, she was sprawled across the bed like an eagle and her head was buried under the soft pillows so the soft yellow light didn't reach her.  
  
She combed her fingers through her mused hair and looked out the window that the bed was level with. The rain the day before had done the earth good, she decided as she examined the ivy that was slowly crawling up the side of the building and watched the people walking back and forth.  
  
There was one man who caught her attention, however the girl she had met the day before, Rouge, was clinging to him, but despite the heat, she was wearing thick leather gloves. The guy she was with, had spiky light brown hair and the most perfect skin, besides her own, that Kelly had ever seen, she couldn't see the color of his eyes, but she imagined them being either a dark or light blue. Maybe a gray.  
  
She pulled the doors of the cabinet open and ruffled through the clothes and chose a pair of the softest pair of denim jeans she thought existed in the world and a long silky top the color of cranberries. She fused with her hair until it was smooth and stood out in small pixie spikes that made her look like a tiger in silk.  
  
When she got by the base of the stairs, Logan suddenly appeared by her. His hair was perfect as usual and his eyes were clear, but had slight bags under them. "I'm sorry about last night" He said more to her feet then her face. She traced her fingers over his muscles arm that was bare in the white wife beater he was wearing and admired the firmness.  
  
"Don't worry about it," She said with a slight smile. He fingered the soft material of the shirt that she was wearing and raised a dark eyebrow. "Who are you all dolled up for?" He asked and Kelly shrugged a smile shoulder. "No one" Logan laughed and poked her with his index finger. "Yeah I don't buy that. You like someone already, come on spill it" Kelly blushed and tucked a few short hairs behind her ruby encrusted ear. "I don't know his name, I wanted to go talk to him" Logan grinned a real grin, not one of those half-assed ones he was so fond of. "Alright, just make sure it's not Bobby, Marie sort of has a claim on him"  
  
Logan wandered away and left Kelly to her own devices. Giving up on the cute boy in the garden, Kelly decided that she wanted to explore the place they expected her to live. The corridors were long and seemingly endless, but they twisted and turned until they came to an end that was capped off with windows. As she walked she hummed a happy Irish tune and delicately jumped onto the point of her toes as she danced nimbly down the hallway.  
  
Scott had been watching her for a while, the easy way she moved on her long legs and the sultry quality of her voice when she softly sang little Gaelic nothings. When she was in mid-arabesque, she spotted him and flushed with embarrassment. "I didn't know there was anyone around," She admitted sheepishly. "Why did you stop?" Scott asked as he took a step closer to her. She opened her mouth but couldn't make anything come out. "You dance well, my little sister used to dance and she actually talked me into taking lessons with her"  
  
Kelly tried to hide her smile but Scott laughed. "Go ahead and laugh at me I don't care anymore" She examined him carefully and approved. He definitely wasn't as handsome as her father was; he was more pretty then handsome. It was odd that she was drawn to him, she rarely liked men who's hair was longer then her own. "Scott Summers" He said as he held out a hand that Kelly observed were smooth, not like Logan's whose hands had honest calluses.  
  
"I know," She said as she shook his hand. He cocked his head to the side. "How?" Kelly grinned and Scott noticed the dimples. "Because it's a pretty boy name, and you are definitely pretty" As walked away and Scott couldn't help but follow her. She was so intriguing. "So I'm a pretty boy huh?" He asked as he trotted next to her side. She glanced at him from the corners of her smiles and winked at him playfully. "Yeah, you're the prettiest boy I've ever seen. " She pirouetted gracefully and had Scott smiling again.  
  
"How can you be Logan's daughter?" He asked suddenly which made Kelly almost break her ankle during her au-pointe. "Excuse me?" She coughed as she rubbed at her ankle almost angrily. "Did he tell you I was his daughter?" Scott shook his head. "No, but it's obvious because you look almost exactly like him, I mean without the evil" Kelly stared at him for a second before bursting out into laughter so hard that she had burst into tears.  
  
A little confused, no scratch that, very confused, Scott scratched at the back of his neck and waited for the laughter to subside. "I'm sorry," Kelly said as she wiped at the tears. "It's just that that is the strangest thing that I think I have ever heard, and believe me Scottie boy I have heard A LOT" Still confused, he let her use the sleeve of his shirt to wipe the tears away. "I like Slick, and I think this is a place that I might actually not mind staying around at"  
  
Scott nodded slowly and smiled. "Well that's good to hear. Have you decided what classes that you want to take?" Kelly shook her head and cracked her fingers and back which made Scott want to cringe, he couldn't stand it. "No. Do you have dancing here?" Scott hesitated. "Well no, not exactly. See most of the students here are too young and the ones who are old enough aren't very interested in it, so Xavier decided not to" Kelly glared at Scott when smiled blindingly. "I'll just have to have a talk with him then" 


	6. C h a p t e r S i x

Chapter Six  
  
Charles knew that Kelly was coming. When there was a brisk knock at the door, he called for her to come in and sat back to see Logan's daughter. She was definitely more then he had expected because he didn't expect to see a gorgeous young diamond in the rough. Like father like daughter he thought with a sly smile and waited for her to speak.  
  
"Are you Charles Xavier?" She asked, and Charles was normally impressed. Most people normally stared at the wheelchair, or out the window behind him, but she looked him dead in the eye, the burning dark embers locked on his and Charles immediately liked her. "Yes I am, how can I help you Ms.Morgan?" She shook off the weird way he knew her last name and went right to the point.  
  
"Why don't you have a dance program here? You have stables and a huge library. So why no dance?" Charles admired the way her long dancers legs held her ground; her eyes were wide and resembled a feline. "Well Ms.Morgan, I had though about it and while a few people expressed interest, not enough did" Kelly rolled her eyes and gnawed at her bottom lip "I can make them interested!" She nearly cried. "And while the ones who are interested in dancing are just sitting around, not being able to do what they want!"  
  
Charles watched her and smiled slowly. "If you think you can get a sizeable turnout, I'll grant you your dance program" Kelly didn't seem to hear him. "And further more. Wait what?" The look on Kelly's face was so hilarious and Charles had to laugh. "If you can get a turnout of 25 people or more, I'll make the program a final thing. For the first practice, you'll use the cleaned out barn" Kelly's smile split her face and showed her pretty teeth. "Don't worry, I can do it. I just happen to have a secret weapon" Charles raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? What is it?" Kelly laughed. "Well I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you"  
  
"Please Scott!" Kelly begged as she dogged his heels down the hallway. "Kelly I like you and all but how am I supposed to teach students how to dance and keep my manhood?" Kelly pulled on his arm and pouted prettily. "You'd be doing me a huge favor and I'd owe you forever" He looked down at the floor and shook his head slowly. "Why do you want me to help you so badly anyway? Why not ask Logan or someone?" Kelly almost burst out laughing. "Somehow I can't see Slick dancing. You know how to dance and it'd be a big help to me to keep the program."  
  
Scott, who had no real defense when it came to women, finally caved in. "Fine, but you're right, you do owe me forever" Kelly squealed with delight and jumped into his arms and kissed him soundly on the mouth. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. "Oh thank you" She moaned. "He gave us the cleaned out barn, but that's okay because once we get enough people to show up, we'll be able to fill a ballroom!"  
  
He smiled at her excitement and ran his fingers through her hair, which was surprisingly soft. "I'll do this for you Kelly, but what's the real reason you wanted me to do this program with you so badly?" Kelly blushed the color of strawberries and cream. "Because you're such a hunk of eye candy," She said half-joking. Scott laughed and Kelly caught the blush that crept onto his tan cheeks before he ducked his head.  
  
"And y'know," She said as she trailed a finger just over his cheekbone, "if you play your cards right, I'll pay you back" She replaced her fingers with her lips and began to nibble delicately at his jaw. Scott jerked away and gently caught Kelly by the chin. "You're a kid" He said. If it had been anyone else who had said it, Kelly would have been infuriated, but the way Scott has said it, the word 'Kid' meant something precious, something to be handled with care.  
  
Still she pulled away from his hand and raised an eyebrow at his dark glasses. "What's with the glasses, I've noticed that you wear them all the time" Scott shrugged. "I have this kind of condition. My eyes are beams.I know how ridiculous that sounds, but if I look at anything without them, I'd blow the whole place to shit" Kelly laughed and Scott looked a little worried. "I'm sorry," She said in between fits of giggles. "It's just funny the way that you said it. Now come on," She said as she gripped his hand and almost pulled him to the stairs. "Wait," He said as he stubbornly dug his heels in the carpet. "Where are we going?" She sighed and tugged at his arm. "To check out the barn now come ON" She tugged at him again and he toppled on top of her.  
  
"What is going on here?" Logan asked as he stood in the doorway of the library. The sight of seeing Scott Summers on top of his daughter was not something he wanted to see. "Logan this isn't what it looks like," Scott said as he scrambled to his feet. He ignored Scott and set his angry dark gaze on Kelly who was sitting on the floor with her knees brought up to her chest. "Kelly I want to have a talk with you" He said roughly and walked off, leaving her a chance to follow or make an escape, but she followed.  
  
"What's the matter with you?" She asked when she found him later. He laughed harshly and shook his head. "I should be asking you that. What the hell was Scott doing on top of you?" Kelly rolled her identical dark eyes. "We fell, I was trying to take him outside and I guess we lost our balance. We weren't doing anything" Logan measured her evenly and said. "Have you had sex before?" Kelly's mouth dropped open. "Slick com'on!" He ignored her protest and asked it again.  
  
"No" Kelly said and raised a challenging eyebrow. "Would you rather if I did? Would it make you happy if I went out and spread my legs for any guy?" Annoyance and a feeling he wasn't used to was curling in his stomach. "No, don't be ridiculous. It's just that Scott and I don't get along that great" Kelly seemed confused. "So that means I can't like him?" "He's older then you Kelly" He said at a loss of other things to say.  
  
"You're older then me" "That's another matter completely" Kelly wanted to laugh but she decided that it wasn't the time or place. She was glad that Logan was mad; it showed that he wasn't a brick. "I don't see it." Logan wanted to scream. "It is. You know it is. I don't want you being with Scott alone anymore". This time, Kelly did laugh. "You can't tell me whom I can and can't see" She turned to leave the room.  
  
Even he didn't like to admit it, he admired Kelly, she stood her ground and didn't cringe like many others did. Without a second thought on the matter, he went after her and stopped in the middle of the stairway. "Kelly!" He called out and she turned around annoyed. "What?" She asked. "I want to apologize" She tapped her foot irritably. "I'm late, besides how are you going to apologize?" A small grin crossed his face. "I'm going to take you sailing"  
  
Kelly's eyes widened. "No Slick, I hate boats, I had a bad experience on a boat once" Amused and not willing to give in easily. "Surely you can't hate all boats," He said a little incredulously. "Yeah, all boats" Logan smiled and checked his watch. "You'll love this boat, I promise" Kelly looked nervous as she shifted from foot to foot. "Promise?" He held up three fingers. "Scouts honor" Kelly rolled her eyes playfully. "That only works if you were a boy scout Slick" "Oh damn" He said with a wink. "So are you going to come with me or not?" Staring down at her feet, she ran her fingers through her hair. "Fine, but if you make me sick, you'll be sorry" 


	7. C h a p t e r S e v e n

Chapter Seven  
  
He led her into the garage and she immediately went to the ruby red Stingray. "I always was a sucker for a redhead" She said as she affectionately stroked the hood, feeling in under her fingers. "Can I drive?" She asked hopefully as she looked up at him with her kewpie-doll wide eyes. He laughed and patted her head. "No" She pouted prettily. "I'm a good driver, back home I had a Mini" He smiled as he unlocked the door. "This is kind of different from a Mini. Maybe next year kid ok?"  
  
Miffed but accepting defeat, Kelly settled herself into the smooth black leather seats. The drive was a little more then half an hour, the scene changed from the appearance to Westchester, to the steel of Lower Manhattan, to the pretty homely feel of Long Island.  
  
"I've never been here before," She said wistfully as she popped a piece of gum in her mouth. "Really?" He asked without taking his eyes off the road. "Yeah, in fact this is my first time in New York at all" Logan nearly veered off the road at this. "Are you serious?" Kelly nodded. "I lived in Montana with Mom, she never-" "Liked the city" Logan finished for her. "Yeah. But I'm confused, if you love the city, and it's obvious that you do, why were you Montana?"  
  
He didn't answer right away; in fact he didn't answer her at all but pulled into a near empty parking lot. There was an old man about 75 standing on the dock who began to wave almost frantically when he saw Logan drive the car into the lot. Logan smiled, and Kelly decided it was the damn sexiest smile that she ever saw. He stepped out of the car and Kelly had to trot to keep up with his long strides. When Logan reached the dock, he wrapped the old man in a bone-crushing hug.  
  
"Kelly, this is the man who should have been my father, Simon Carey" Simon Carey had a friendly face, a little scarred by the wind, but he had lively green eyes and a thick mane of white hair that was pulled away from his face. All he needed was a golden hoop earring and Kelly decided that he would have looked like a pirate. "Who is this lovely young lady you have here? Who is definitely young enough to be your daughter" Kelly smiled at the second part that he mumbled and looked up at Logan.  
  
"Well Simon, this is Kelly Morgan. She is my daughter" Simon's eyes widened as they darted almost frantically between Logan and Kelly. "Oh," Simon said as he lowered himself to the bench. "So she's your daughter, and you're her father?" He asked slowly. Logan nodded and smiled as if he were amused and patted Simon on the cheek. "I'm gonna take her out on Sinatra," Still a little shaky, Simon rose and took out a ring of brass keys and tossed them to Logan.  
  
As they walked down the dock, Kelly raised an amused eyebrow. "You named your boat Sinatra?" He gave her a look that made her shut her mouth, but she smiled anyway and trotted after him. The boat was sitting in the blue topaz water like a toy in a child's tub. "This is Sinatra," He said as he helped her aboard. Though Kelly stuck by her claim that she hated boats, she didn't mind Sinatra. It was white, except for the inside of the cabin, which was painted the same color as the singer's eyes.  
  
"So how did someone like you get around to liking Ole Blue Eyes?" She asked as she leaned back on a cushioned seat. He let the 'someone like you' comment roll off him. "They would play his old songs a lot at O'Brien's. He had a great voice so I just got around to liking him, and when I decided to buy a boat, it was the only name that came to my head" She leaned back, letting the sunlight wash over her. "What's your favorite song?" She asked almost sleepily. "Come Fly With Me" He said as he walked up the short flight of stairs to the helm.  
  
"That's funny, I guessed you would have said Mack the Knife. Y'know, the killing and all" He sent her a look from the helm that made her want to cringe. "You don't think much of me do you Kelly?" She smiled and closed her eyes as she felt the warm sun on her. "Sure I do. Its just that you seem like a kind of rough-and-tumble sort of guy" He rolled his eyes and took the boat away from the dock.  
  
Soon after they were floating calmly in the middle of Huntington Harbor, she went up to his side at the helm of the pretty boat. "You never answered my question about why you were in Montana" Once the boat was settled he cut off the engine and turned to her. "Well I didn't meet Annie in Montana. I met her in Chicago. She wanted to be an actress and I guess she figured if she could get screen work, she'd be able to work on the stage like she really wanted. Boy she was beautiful; she could sing like an angel too, man. Anyway, I met her when she was auditioning for a movie, I don't remember what it was called though. She didn't get the part and she was so upset because I guess she really wanted it  
  
"I was in the lobby when she came out, at first I thought I was seeing an angel. She was crying so she ran into me, she fell on the floor and I helped her up. Her skin was so pale I thought she was going to be sick. As soon as I picked her up, she told me she was going to be sick.."  
  
-Flashback, 16 years ago-  
  
"I'm going to be sick," Annie Morgan moaned softly and Logan quickly searched for the ladies restroom, only finding the men's, he half carried her into the bathroom and helped her to the stall. She knelt by the toilet as Logan held back her long blonde hair.  
  
After ten minutes, she leaned back against him and he wiped her forehead with the sleeve of his shirt. "I'm sorry, I don't even know you" Once she was able to sit up, Logan slipped away and brought her a paper cup of water. She drank it gratefully and tried to smile.  
  
"I'm Annie Morgan," She said as she rubbed at her eyes with the back of her hands. "Logan Hill" He said and helped her too her feet. "I've never been so embarrassed" She said with a small laugh. Her cheeks were flushed, she looked like a cherub.  
  
The next day, Logan supposed that the little experience with Annie was over, until she walked into the club were he was boxing. He was in the middle of a fight when she walked in and he got punched squarely in his left temple. He was knocked out and his opponent was ushered out of the ring.  
  
Annie, who was wearing a long ruffled dress the color of ginger cloves, jumped into the ring and bundled him into her arms. She stroked his thick hair and kissed the bruise that was forming across the left side of his face. His eyes fluttered open and he smiled when he saw her. "Hi again," He muttered as he played with the ends of her butter soft hair.  
  
"Hi," She grinned like a schoolgirl and gazed down at him fondly. "Hey," He said as he sat up shakily, "your eyes have a little gold in them" She blushed and for a moment, both of them seemed to forget that they were sitting in the middle of a boxing ring with hundreds of pairs of eyes staring at them. Logan laughed and stood up. "I gotta go," He said as he took Annie's hand in his. "I'm sorry, but I gotta go"  
  
He lead her out of the smoky club and down to the apartment of which he lived and brought her up to his room. He caught her staring at him with her wide eyes and decided that she knew, but played along anyway. "What?" He asked as he sipped a glass of water. "Your bruise, it's gone" With a sound 'clink' he set the glass down and turned to her. "You're a mutant," She said slowly. "That's not going to be a problem is it?" He asked. She watched him for several long seconds.  
  
In a few long strides, she was to him as she reached up and cupped his face in her hands as she brought him down to kiss her. Her lips were warm and soft and tasted like kiwi lip-gloss and minty toothpaste. The more he tasted it, the more he wanted it. He took the kiss deeper and Annie seemed to melt against him. She backed up towards the small bed and he nearly fell on top of her.  
  
-End flashback-  
  
"The rest is kind of cloudy from there. Annie and I spent the next few days in bed together and one morning she was gone. About a month later I got a call from her, she was staying with her parents in their townhouse in Georgia, she never said anything about being pregnant" Kelly's eyes were a little misty and she settled herself in Logan's lap.  
  
"That's a sad story" She murmured. "Yeah it is, but you didn't have to live it" He gently lifted her from his lap and went back to the helm to start the boat again. "Congratulations" He said after a few moments of silence. "On what?" "On your dance program you're starting with Scott" She smiled blindingly at him and stretched out her long legs. "Yeah it's pretty cool" When the dock was in sight, he asked. "What's the first song you're going to do?" She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, something along the lines of: Come fly with me lets fly lets fly away." 


	8. C h a p t e r E i g h t

Chapter Eight  
  
When they returned, Kelly was exhausted, or so she said, so she returned to her room for a nap. As Logan was walking down the stairs, Scott was walking up. "What did you do? Shoot her?" He asked bitterly. Logan rolled his eyes and kept walking. "I took her sailing" Scott scoffed and muttered. "Oh great so you threw her overboard then"  
  
Pissed of to the core by Scott already, he spun around to face him. "Look bud I don't know what problem it is you have with me but if all of you expect that we beat Magneto, then you better get over it" "No," Scott said now on the level with Logan. "I've gotten over my problem with you, the problem that I have now is how you treat your daughter." Confused, Logan said. "What about how I treat Kelly?" Scott's face was turning a little red. "God you don't even see it! She loves you and you don't give two shits and a fuck about her!"  
  
At this, Logan deemed that he had little less to do then to slam his fist smartly into Scott's jaw. It, Logan would think of later, probably wasn't the smartest thing in the world to do. The toppled to the landing of the stairs where Charles was sitting in his wheelchair, instantly feeling guilty, they followed Charles as he wheeled to his office.  
  
"I'm not going to say I' surprised by your actions, because I'm not. Perhaps I thought that the both of you were adult enough to overlook each other's little endeavors. Logan, I know that you're still pissed off that Scott had saved your life, and Scott I see nothing wrong with the wall Logan treats Kelly, in my opinion, he is being a good father, he's new at it. But you have responsibilities now Logan, and you have to be the adult, what kind of example is it to Kelly if you punching out everyone who makes you mad-" "He didn't punch me out" Scott said stubbornly. "Neither the less," Charles said, smoothly brushing Scott as if he were a slightly pesky puppy.  
  
"I feel Magneto is growing steadily stronger, with the help of Kelly and the two recruits that Storm brought in this morning, we'll be strong enough" Logan raised an dark eyebrow. "What two new recruits?" Charles shuffled some papers on his desk and pulled out a small stack.  
  
"Jillian McVie, also known as Demeter and Clay Horton, also known as Gonzales. Jillian can make things grow, trees, forests actually, flowers and plants things like that, rivers and lakes, this could become useful, however, she also had the power to destroy them, she's 18 years old. Clay is a runner; he can run anywhere in the world and back in 5 seconds, he is also a shifter, he can take certain shapes of things, which also could be useful, he's 19 years old."  
  
Almost as if on cue, Storm walked through the door with the two at her side. Jillian was a pretty little thing, no taller then Kelly. Her hair was a dazzling brunette, Logan and Scott both wondered if someone's hair could actually be that glossy, and her eyes were the color of Spanish moss. The man at her side was taller, more definite with a go-to-hell expression on his face. He had a tanned complexion, a firm mouth and dark hair, off set by somewhat gentle blue eyes.  
  
"Professor," Storm said, casting a nervous glance to the murderous way Scott and Logan were looking at each other. "Ignore them. Logan, Scott, if you could give us some time alone, I'll see you both at dinner tonight. And Logan, for God's sake, try to be on time tonight" Logan clicked his tongue and turned to leave.  
  
Clay watched them leave then turned to face Charles as if he were a boxer in the ring. "You can relax," Charles said gently as he wheeled from behind the desk. "We're not going to hurt you. In fact you may be helpful to our case" Jillian, who was still standing silently in the doorway, suddenly spoke up.  
  
"You mean the Mutant Problem?" She asked, her voice was silky and a little earthy. "Well we don't consider it a problem Ms.McVie, but yes. I believe that the both of you would be instrumental in helping us" Clay was slumping in a thick leather chair. "I've heard about you" He said in a smooth Scottish accent. "You go around wearing costumes and fighting crime."  
  
Interested to see where he was going with his rant, Charles settled back and listened. "All of you are the reason I was always treated differently, now you're asking me to become one of you? No, I don't think so" He rose to leave the room, he cast one last baleful look at Jillian and Charles and left.  
  
Still looking over the shoulder at the closed door, he ran into Kelly who was looking for Logan. She fell to the floor and Clay lifted her apologetically. "I'm sorry" He said as he gazed at her for a moment too long. "I haven't seen you here before" She said. "And you won't be, I'm not staying" As he walked down the hall, Kelly followed him. "Where are you going to go? You don't even know where you are"  
  
He turned to her with a raised eyebrow. "At least stay for dinner, then you can leave and I'll make sure they never bother you again" She said with a lop-sided smile that was identical to her father's. He looked down at his tattered blue jeans and dark gray shirt. "I don't have anything to wear" He said, sounding amused.  
  
She smiled and hooked her arm with his. "We'll find you something" She said with a laugh and escorted him to Logan's room. The room was dark when Kelly creaked the door open and held a lean finger to her lips. They tiptoed into Logan's room and pulled the drawers open slowly. She pawed for clothes and pulled out a streamline jacket with pants and a black shirt.  
  
"I think you and Slick are about the same size, go quietly in the bathroom and try them on" She said as she tossed them to him. He disappeared into the dark connecting bathroom. Kelly wandered over to Logan's bed was and felt the rumpled covers under her fingertips.  
  
A few minutes later, Clay walked out of the bathroom and in the slant of light that was coming through the doorway, he looked like the kind of men women dreamed off. She repressed the whistle that was on the tip of her tongue and grinned. "Not bad, I doubt Slick will notice they're gone, I swear that he lives in those jeans"  
  
Clay began to pull the jacket and shirt off in front of her and she began to feel her pulse quicken. He was lean, but not skinny, he had tight muscles across his arms and a smooth hairless chest. "Who's Slick?" He asked as he put his own shirt back on. "Logan Hill" His face changed a little. "Logan? The guy I saw in that guy's office?" Kelly shrugged and picked up the clothes he had dropped on the floor.  
  
"I guess" He took them as she handed the bundle of clothes to him. "Then why do you call him Slick?" Kelly shrugged and with loss if anything else to do, began to make Logan's bed in the dark. "Because I can't call him Dad yet" Clay shook his head, obviously confused. "I don't understand" She fluffed the pillows and smoothed the sheets. "It's really not hard to understand, Logan's my dad, I just found out and we agreed that we'd ease our way into a relationship"  
  
Clay watched her for a moment. "Right," He said slowly. "What time is this dinner tonight?" She glanced over her shoulder at him and shrugged. "It's normally around 8" She straightened and brushed at her jeans. "Be ready for the ball" She said with a dramatic flourish. He bowed to her with a laugh and followed her out of Logan's room.  
  
"So what room do you stay in?" He asked. She paused for a moment in the middle of the hallway and pointed down a corridor. "Hmmm.that room. It's pretty, I really like it" He looked where she was pointing and back down at her, for he was quite a bit taller. "Maybe you'll show it to me sometime" She smiled and walked to her door. "I thought you weren't staying" She said coyly. Clay ran a hand over her surprisingly soft hair. "Maybe you could convince me to stay"  
  
Kelly shook her head with a laugh. "Well, thanks for walking me to the door, see ya at dinner, Handsome" She winked at him and closed the door in his face. Once she was safely inside, she leaned against the door and let out a long breath she didn't know she had been holding in. She had always felt more comfortable with men then other women, but with Clay Horton, she felt like she was playing too close to the fire. 


	9. C h a p t e r N i n e

Kelly rushed into the shower and slathered her hair with the shampoo and conditioner that smelled like a hot house of exotic flowers, and resigned to seeing Clay at dinner, he was going to look fantastic, she already knew that. What she didn't know was how to make it look like it didn't affect her, and how to make his mouth water at the same time.  
  
She went to the closet and pulled the big doors open and wondered if she would ever get over the way that the smell of sawdust and sugar curled in her stomach. She thumbed through the dresses while her hair was drying, about ten minutes later she found her dress. It barely brushed her thigh and was a color that Kelly considered pure sex.  
  
She was about to turn away when another dress caught her eye. She knew it wouldn't look good on her, but she knew whom it would look good on. She rushed down the hall with the dress in hand to Storm's room. She knocked nearly frantically and grinned when Storm answered. "Is the new chick still here?" Storm raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Jillian? Yeah. Third floor, 2nd door on the left, but-?" Before she could finish her question, Kelly was gone.  
  
She found Jillian's room, she knocked a few times but when no one answered, she let herself into the room. It was almost identical to hers, but the walls were painted a buttery yellow with the same thick white blankets on the bed. There was a tall copper urn filled with beautiful yellow long stemmed roses, which were too plentiful to count. There was the sound of a door sliding and a pretty brunette stepped out of the bathroom. "Jillian?" Kelly asked as she laid the dress on the bed. "Si?" 'Ah," Kelly thought with a smile. 'An Italian, finally!' "Siete Italiani?" Jillian paused in the doorway and grinned. "Finally someone I can talk to!" She cried as she ran a brush through her long hair.  
  
"What are you going to wear tonight?" Kelly asked as she sat on the edge of Jillian's bed. Jillian shrugged a slim shoulder and put her hands on her waist. "Non so, do you suggest something?" Kelly grinned and pulled out the dress she had danced up two flights of stairs to give her. Jillian's eyes got wide as she took the dress from her.  
  
It was smooth crepe, the color of champagne that stopped at her knee. "It's beautiful" She murmured as she ran her fingers over it. "Yeah I thought so too, but somehow it ended up in my closet instead of yours" Kelly rose and dusted off her jeans. "Dinner's at eight, wear that and all the guys will love you" "What's your mutant power?" Jillian asked as she plucked a plump green grape from the bowl on the dresser and into her mouth.  
  
"I'm a telaporter, or so I've been told. What's yours?" Jillian shrugged and ate another grape. "I can grow things, like the roses over there," She said, gesturing to them aimlessly. "And these tasty little grapes, unfortunately I can't manage to grow them without the seeds inside yet. I don't know how the grocer does it" Kelly laughed and glanced at her watch. "Oh, it's almost 7, I better take start getting ready"  
  
Before Kelly left the room, Jillian called out to her. "I know it's kind of foolish, but I was wondering if you could help me with make-up and everything tonight. See I've been running for a long time, and the places I was able to stop didn't have a great deal of make-up" Kelly smiled. "No problem, as soon as I get mine done, I'll be up" Kelly winked at her and left.  
  
She had just gotten in her room when Logan came in. "What do you want Slick? I'm about to change" Logan smiled and looked down at the dress on the bed, "I can see that, very nice" She tapped her foot impatiently. "Is that what you wanted to tell me?" Logan paused as if he were confused to why he was really there. "I'm not sure, I just had a feeling that you were sick" Her face paled a little, but Logan missed it. "Well," She smiled blandly. "I'm not sick, so you can go get dressed for dinner"  
  
Logan returned the distant smile and turned to leave, but before he was out of the door, he turned to look at her again. "You'd tell me if you were really sick wouldn't you?" Kelly nodded and Logan sighed. "Good, for a minute there I was worried" He winked and left Kelly alone in her room. She combed her fingers through her hair so it laid the way she liked it and began to put on her makeup. She carefully lined her eyes with smooth black eyeliner, painted her lips the color of wet strawberries and stepped into the dress as not to smudge her make-up. She looked in the mirror and was pleased with the contrast between the color of her eyes and the lipstick she had chosen.  
  
With a final spritz of a classic vanilla perfume in a old-fashion bottle, Kelly looked in the mirror and sighed, She turned sharply on her heel and left the room to help Jillian. She went up the flights of stairs and opened the door, which Jillian had left unlocked for her. When she stepped inside, the first thing she noticed was that the urn was now filled with peach, pink, and red roses, the bowl of grapes was riper and greener, Kelly figured Jillian liked the dress.  
  
Jillian stepped out of the bathroom. Her hair was damp and near black as it hung past her shoulders. "Good I'm glad you're here" She said as she caught Kelly by the wrist and almost drug her into the bathroom. "How did the dress look?" Kelly asked as she inspected the rows and rows of make-up that Jillian had uprooted from the drawers.  
  
"It looked great. What am I going to do with my hair?" She asked a little helplessly as she ran her fingers through it. Kelly cocked her head to the side. "I got an idea, rewet your hair" She said as she plucked a bottle of melting gel off the counter and squirted some into her hands as she rubbed them together. "What are you going to do?" Jillian asked when she sat in the stool in front of the sink.  
  
"Just a little something, nothing too drastic. I used to have long hair like you, I used to do this all the time, and then it became too fussy for me so I cut it off. Now relax" She ordered as she began to work the gel into Jillian's hair and fixed it into loose little curls that hung delicately around her pretty face.  
  
While her hair dried in the curls, she began on her make-up. Jillian's skin was flawless, so she patted it with a fine shimmery powder. Her eyes were bafflement to Kelly, so she made them look sophisticated with thick black mascara that didn't clump, and painted her lips with a clear gloss. When she was done, Jillian almost didn't recognize herself. She couldn't be happier with the way she looked.  
  
She stepped into her dress the way that Kelly instructed and watched Kelly all. She looked so pretty, the dress was nice, but with Kelly in it, it looked fantastic. Once she was all zipped up, they left and went into the dining hall. 


	10. C h a p t e r T e n

As soon as they walked in, both girls knew that all the guys' eyes were on the two of them. Even Ben, who had been so rude to Kelly, stopped in mid sentence. Jillian smiled and took a seat next to Kelly who sat next to Logan and across from Clay. He looked more amazing in Logan's clothes then she thought.  
  
"Kelly," Charles said as he cleared his throat. "That's certainly a pretty dress, what color would you call that?" She looked down at the low cut dress and smiled at Charles before winking at Clay. "Opal. Though at home we called it London Lights, it's not exactly silver and it's not exactly blue and it's not exactly white, so we called it London Lights"  
  
"Where exactly is it that you are from?" Ben asked suddenly, the casual sneer on his lips. "Ben," Charles began sternly, obviously he didn't permit any rudeness in his school, but Kelly simply hand up her hand. "Anaconda City, in Montana. I lived there with my mom for a while then she got sick and died, so I came here to New York to look for my dad" "Did you find him?" Ben asked, intrigued but not rude. "Yeah I did actually, I also found a lot of other things as well" She said as she looked at Clay quickly before smiling blindly at Ben.  
  
Rogue walked into the dining room a minute or so later, she didn't wear a dress, but a pinstripe dark blue pants suit, her hair pulled away from her pretty face. Immediately, Kelly didn't trust her. She sat prettily next to Ben and her supposed boyfriend, Bobby, sat next to her. Something about her face was.She couldn't describe it, it just bothered her.  
  
The dinner was brought out and Kelly poked at the roast suspiciously, it smelled like heaven, but Kelly couldn't eat, something inside her wouldn't let her even touch the drink that was placed in front of her. "You alright kid?" Logan asked as he eyed Kelly. "Yeah," She said slowly as she flipped the roast over on her plate. "I'm just a little tired" She looked up to see that mostly everyone was looking at her.  
  
"Excuse me for a minute," She said as she pushed away from the maple wood table. Once she left everyone's eyes shifted to Logan and he sighed as he went to follow her. He caught her in the hallway as she clutched her stomach and she nearly doubled over onto the floor. "Whoa, easy there girl" He said soothingly as he gently lifted her upright, "What's going on Kelly?" He asked as he stroked her hair. "I don't know, I've just been feeling a little sick lately" He smiled grimly and gently sat her on the marble floor,  
  
"Stay right here and I'll get you some water ok?" She shook her head, but the movements made her head spin violently. "No, Don't go" She said as she groped almost blindly for his hand. "Just stay with me for a minute, I'll be all right" She cupped her face in her hands and rocked on her heels for a while. When she stopped, Logan gathered her into his lap and held her.  
  
When she recovered, she didn't bother to climb out of his lap. For a long time she wondered who her father was, she always imagined that her father would be a four button tie wearing breakfasting eating type. Logan wasn't any of these things. She liked the way she felt in his arms when he held her. I was completely unisexual, absolutely and completely unisexual. But the way that he held her made her feel safe.  
  
"Oh," Logan said suddenly as he dug into his pocket. "I went into Manhattan and I bought you a little present" Kelly looked up at him and smiled. "What did you get me?" He smiled at her enthusiasm and handed her the little parcel wrapped in lavender tissue paper. She grinned as she gently peeled back the tissue and grinned, She lifted the long golden chain with a sapphire K in the middle of it.  
  
"It's so pretty" Kelly said as she gently fingered the dark blue stones, "How did you know my birthday was in September?" Logan grinned from ear to ear. "I have my sources" Kelly smiled but glanced towards the doorway where she could see Rogue talking with her legs crossed prettily as she flirted with Bobby.  
  
"I don't like her" Kelly said as she narrowed her eyes slightly. "Yeah, there seems to be something off about her" He said as lifted Kelly from his lap. "What do you mean?" Kelly asked as Logan took a few steps towards the dining hall and smirked. "I don't know, but if I'm wrong, I'm going to be in a lot of trouble"  
  
Logan went over and smiled sweetly at Rogue. "Hiya Rogue, That's certainly a pretty suit" She could feel everyone's eyes on hers, "Thanks, I bought it from a store in Manhattan" While Rogue talked, Logan silently gripped the silver knife on the table. "How nice," In one swift movement, he sliced the knife across Rogue's chest. "LOGAN!" About everyone at the table screamed at once. Logan held up a hand and watched as Rogue's body transformed into Mystique's blue form.  
  
"Oh I fucking knew it!" He yelled and ran from the room with Scott close at his heels. They ran into Rogue's room and saw how it was totally torn apart. There was a sound thumbing at the closet door and as Logan pulled the door open, Rogue fell onto the floor, wrapped up in tape and cloth. Logan and Scott quickly lifted her up and unwrapped her on the bed. "What happened?" Scott said, oddly demanding. "She came in as Kitty, then she just morphed and I don't really remember the rest"  
  
Down at the dining hall, Storm and Kurt had Mystique safely concealed in a large pantry that Storm had iced completely shut, so iced that it would take Scott's beam to burn through it. "What the hell is going on, and who the hell was that?" Clay demanded as he came up from behind Storm. "That was Mystique, we've been having trouble with her for a while"  
  
Clay shook his head and gripped Storm's arm. "I don't give a flying shit," He said viciously. Kurt took a step forward but Storm shook her head to keep him back. "Mr.Horton," Storm began calmly. "There is a war coming, we hoped it wouldn't come to this, but it has. Pauline Maguire, otherwise known as Mystique, can take the form of anyone; She's on the evil side, so to speak, along with Magneto and one of our own students, John Allerdyce. We can't make you choose a side, but we hope that you choose ours"  
  
Clay seemed very amused. "I never even said I was staying, I'm just doing this as a favor to Kelly" Storm concealed her smile. "I see. That might be a problem however," she said until she heated her own skin to such a temperature that Clay had to let go. "Because Mystique knows that you're with us, he's going to be looking for you, so I suggest until this war is over, that you'll stay with us"  
  
He shook his head and looked over his shoulder at Jillian who was talking quietly to Charles. "How long will this war take?" He asked bitterly. Storm seemed a little helpless "We don't know, it could last a few months to a few years" Clay let out a long breath. "I'll think about it" He said distempered and cast an annoyed look at Kurt who was almost hovering. He glanced at Kelly who was sitting on the marble steps with her long legs folded neatly under her and went to see her.  
  
As he walked away, Storm smiled at Kurt. "Springs coming, and we know what that means" Kurt seemed confused. "What's it mean?" She placed her hands over his cheeks and kissed his mouth soundly. "Bless your heart, you're adorable. It means that our Gonzales as an eye on Firecracker" Her mouth snapped shut. "Firecracker?" Kurt asked. "Yeah, Kelly's name is Firecracker" Kurt smiled and followed Storm as she went to search for Logan and Scott. 


	11. C h a p t e r E l e v e n

Chapter Eleven  
  
She only found Logan talking to Rogue quietly in the bedroom; Scott had gone for a walk. Rogue was a little frazzled but not too distressed, Storm guessed that she was used to all the odd occurrences that had been happening lately. Deciding that Logan and Kurt could keep things under control, Strom turned to change in her room. As she passed one of the broken windows, she made a mental note to remind the professor, yet as she passed it, she could hear someone talking quietly. She looked out and saw Scott looking up at the sky.  
  
The warm breeze was a kind of comfort to him, Scott supposed. The night blooming jasmine bushes were just opening and filled the air with their delicate scent. A few black ravens flew across dark blue-gray sky and let out a piercing cry. "I wish you were here Jean," He said silently. "I don't think I can do this without you" Tears filled and burned his eyes.  
  
A dark raven landed on a low branch by Scott and cocked its head as if it were listening to him. Its intelligent eyes burned into his and he smiled sadly. "It must suck y'know" He said addressing the bird. "To love someone, I mean really love them, to be willing to do anything in the world for them, and then they sacrifice themselves. It's not fair, it should have been me" The bird squawked, as if it were confirming or denying Scott's statement. "Jean was totally incredible, beautiful and classy and funny and smart, you can't find anyone else in the world like her" The bird took flight and flew past his cheek, the warm breath of its wings felt like a gentle kiss.  
  
He went inside and saw Jillian, Clay and Kelly talking at the table. As he passed, he could hear Kelly trying to convince Clay to stay and not to be angry at Storm. "This place is fucked up Kelly" Clay hissed viciously. "None of us should stay here" Kelly nodded just for the sake of nodding and bit into a cooling bread stick. "I know it's a little weird, and maybe you're right and we should all leave," She saw the light of victory fill Clay's eyes. "But," She said slowly and the light was instantly extinguished. "Now that the world knows what you are, how do you think they're going to treat you? Now that Magneto knows that the both of you are here at this school, do you honestly think you're going to be safe out there?"  
  
Scott smiled. 'The kid as moxie'. Jillian shifted nervously in her seat, "I think she's right Clay," She said quietly. Clay's angry eyes whipped to hers and she gulped. "The blue chick.." "Mystique" Kelly filled in. "Right, Mystique. She knows that we're with Professor Xavier, it's going to get to Magneto, and then we'll really be screwed" Clay raised an eyebrow. "How do you know this?" Jillian smiled embarrassedly. "I had a talk with Professor Xavier, he filled me in on the situation" He swore through clenched teeth. "Do you think he would tell you the truth? He just wants you to stay here" Kelly spoke up at this. "Shut up Clay." She said in a way that reminded Scott of her father.  
  
"I know I haven't known the professor for very long, but he's a straight forward guy. I wouldn't be here if he weren't and you won't even given him a chance. I don't know what happened to you before you ended up here, but you need to trust people or you're just going to be going through life wondering if people are looking to screw you over or do experiments on you. It's not like that here, Do you honestly thing that Storm and Scott would still be here if the professor was so horrible?" But Kelly was on a roll; Clay couldn't get a word in if he tried. "No, they wouldn't. Leave if you want, just walk out right now and see what happens to you. You're a mutant Clay whether you like it or not you have to accept that fact and nothing is going to change it. I've come to accept what I am a long time ago, I didn't want to but I did. You have to do the same or you're going to be screwed for the rest of your life.  
  
"The people that are here are probably the people who are going to save your ass one day. I asked you to stay for dinner and to give them a chance, you did stayed for dinner but when something went amok, you immediately got defensive about it, you didn't give them a chance. What happened to you that made you so paranoid? Who hurt you?" Clay had never met anyone who could get his temper up so quickly. "This isn't about me, this is about them" He said. Kelly wanted to strangle him. "NO!" She screamed which caused Scott to jump. "This isn't about Storm or Logan or Kurt or Scott or Charles. This is about YOU. You're afraid" She added quietly as she watched the fire burn in his eyes, turning them into a molten blue. His arm shot out and gripped Kelly. Scott started forwards, but he realized that Kelly could hold her ground. She was, after all, Logan's daughter.  
  
"Maybe I am," He hissed viciously. "You have no idea what I've gone through, you haven't seen the scars, felt the sting of the needle as they stab it into you, the way they look at you. I know exactly what I am Kelly, and I hate it. All my life I wanted to be like everyone else, to have my parents look at me as if I were just normal. But no, I had to be this sort of FREAK. So don't give me any shit about not trusting people. If you knew a fraction of what I've been through, you'd understand" Kelly wrenched away from him. Once her temper was up, it burned like wildfire and no one knew when it would subside. Through the fight, they didn't notice that Jillian had quietly sneaked away.  
  
"Ah, but I can't understand Clay because you haven't talked to anyone here about it, you just assume that they are going to turn you over to the government so they can test you and all that, but they're not Clay, why can't you understand that?" Kelly's eyes were near black with the anger boiling inside her. Clay was almost nose-to-nose with her now, like two junkyard dogs facing off. "I don't know," He said bitterly. "Why don't you explain it to me?" When she opened her mouth to respond, Clay grabbed her and crushed her mouth with his.  
  
He expected her to slice him into ribbons with her long nails, but she met fire with fire and that affected him more then it should have. God she tasted good, he thought as his tongue explored her mouth, like incredibly intoxicating red wine. She molded against him and his hands came around her to the back of her neck and held her there. Her hands raced through his hair and moaned into his mouth. When they broke apart, they looked at each hotly. "We should fight more often" Kelly said as she gently touched her lips that were swollen from the ferrous kiss. "Yeah" Clay agreed. He gently kissed her temple, tasting the warm honey flavor of her skin and smiled. "Next we should fight in the bedroom" 


	12. C h a p t e r T w e l v e

Kelly would be the last one to admit that her knees were actually weak, but as she walked down the hallway in search of Logan, it was kind of obvious. Scott caught her in the hallway and took her by the arm. He smiled that she jumped under the slightest touch. 'Clay must be one hell of a kisser' Scott thought amused. "I need you to come with me" Scott said. "Why?" "To see the barn, remember we need to get the program started." The mists that were floating daintily through Kelly's head were instantly burned away.  
  
"Oh crap you're right! And we still have so much to do. We need to get people together and find music and-" Scott laughed and draped a heavy arm over her shoulders. "Don't worry about it kid, I'll round the girlies" He said with a wicked grin. Kelly smiled, Scott may be devastatingly handsome, but he was just like every other guy. 'Like Clay' Something in the back of her mind told her. "Thank you" Kelly murmured. "It's no problem" Kelly caught his hand before he could turn to leave. "No I really mean thank you. You didn't even know me, who I really was, but you knew it was important to me and you did me a favor, I've never known anyone who would do that for me" Scott smiled and kissed the back of her delicate hand. "That's what we do for each other here," He said "We look out for one another, make sure that everyone is a happy puppy, even if it's a little thing like starting a dance program"  
  
Kelly smiled though tears began to swim helplessly in her eyes. When one escaped, Scott brushed the pad of his thumb across Kelly's cheek. "Come on now," He said and ran a hand over her hair. "The barn isn't going to check itself out is it?" Kelly shook her head and took Scott's hand as he led her down the hallway, Suddenly she turned from Scott and had bolted halfway up the spiraling stairs before Scott had thought to call for her. "I gotta change out of this," She said motioning to the dress. When she returned she was wearing what looked like one of Logan's white shirts and a pair of baggy drawstring pants. She hooked his arm in hers and together they walked out the double glass doors. Though it was getting darker by the minute, the barn seemed to be surrounded by a thin glowing mist. The air was warm and carried the faint smell of hay and salt.  
  
When Scott pulled the doors open, a smile split Kelly's face. The barn was musty and cold despite the warmth of the weather outside, and angry pigeons fluttered past their heads. She let out a shriek of joy and wiggled her tight little butt. "Ah! This is perfect" She said happily and gripped Scott's arm. "If that's what you like to call perfect, then I'm concerned for you Kelly" He said, but the corners of his lips tipped.  
  
"You can't be Logan Hill's daughter." Scott said simply as he stared down at her. "Why not?" She asked, not looking at him. "Because you got class, you're beautiful, and you can kick anyone's ass without thinking twice about it. " Kelly shrugged a shoulder. "Well I am, and while I don't know why you have some sort of problem with my father, I'd appreciate it if you don't talk about him that way in my presence" Scott smiled. "No problem Kiddo"  
  
She punched his arm friendly and plugged in the small stereo she carried to the outlet in the wall. Static assaulted the both of them until she stabbed at the few buttons and the static subsided. "So," Scott said as he watched her crouched on the ground. "Show me what you can do" Kelly held her gaze steady with him for a moment before she rose gracefully to her feet. "You'd like that wouldn't you?" She asked teasingly. He shifted the smile to a playful sneer and Kelly giggled into her hand. "Alright. Promise not to laugh?" Scott grinned. "No"  
  
With a resigned sigh, Kelly pressed the play button on the stereo and Chopin's delicate 'Nocturne' floated from the speakers. He watched her silently, listening to the soft music and watching her long lean body move and visualize the sound. She pirouetted and spun, made the music her own. She finished with a dramatic arabesque. "That music doesn't suit you," He said and grinned when she turned to face him with her hands balled on her fists.  
  
"Excuse me?" She asked, a challenging eyebrow rose. "Don't get me wrong," Scott said quickly. "The movement was perfectly fluid and every thing was perfect, but someone like you deserves a song that is more demanding, something about young love that is cocky and full of it's self. 'Nocturne' is a beautiful piece, but it doesn't do you enough justice"  
  
She winked at him but held her stance. "Just what piece of music would you suggest Mr.Summers?" She asked. Scott shrugged. "I don't know, and I don't suppose that it matters, as long as you dance" Kelly grinned and plied perfectly then turned it into a classy bow. She flipped back her head, since she had been there, her hair was rapidly growing and was framing her devilish pixie face with shaggy pikes.  
  
"I've always loved the Warsaw Concerto," Kelly said as if it were a heartfelt confession. "I suppose that you'd say that it didn't fit me, but the sorrow of the music just.I don't know, I can relate to it I guess." Scott watched her from behind his dark lenses. "The Warsaw Concerto is about the holocaust Kelly," He said as if he were speaking to a slightly slow 5-year-old. "How can you relate to sadness and pain like that?"  
  
Kelly shook her head instead of answering his question, she couldn't tell him, not yet. "Never mind. So," She said as she turned from him to gaze around the barn, eyes misty, the glittering softness turning the former dark brown into the color of a sandy beach. At that moment, Scott didn't think that he had ever seen anyone look more beautiful then Kelly did at that moment. Her chestnut brown hair was streaked with sunny brown from the time that she had been spending in the sun, her cheeks flushed with a happy pink color and lips slightly parted and tinted a deep rose. Then he thought of Jean and a dark mood immediately descended upon him until Kelly turned to him and grinned.  
  
"This is going to be amazing," Her voice was still dreamy and Scott rose and draped an arm loosely around her slender shoulders. "Sure it will be. Now, all I want you to worry about" He said as he placed a friendly kiss at her temple and brushed at a dark gray blue pigeon feather that had landed on her shoulder. "Is making the dancing look effortless, I gotta worry about how I can convince people to come check it out and maintain my masculinity" Kelly giggled into her palm which she had put over her mouth and Scott grinned down at her. Everything was perfect, Kelly thought to herself. But only for the moment 


	13. C h a p t e r T h i r t e e n

Kelly and Scott had decided to give the barn back to the pigeons for the night and returned back to their rooms. Almost as soon as Kelly had stripped out of the clothes, something in the pocket of a pair of her discarded jeans began to hum and vibrate almost angrily. Remembering, she reached into the pocket of said jeans and pulled out a shivering chrome cell phone looking device.  
  
"Hello Raven," She said coldly and listened to Raven on the other end. "I told you that I'm working on it.that was a mistake it wasn't supposed to happen.I know time is running out, but I don't think that I can do it," There was a long pause before the woman on the other end said anything, and when she did, it wasn't exactly settling. "Yes, I know Raven.but this isn't.Of course," Kelly said softly. "Right.Bye"  
  
She closed the device and sighed deeply. As if in a trance, she slowly dressed into dark gray pants and a white tank top that had bubblegum pink hibiscuses scattered across it. She scrubbed her face with a handful of sugar she had stolen from the kitchen in a baggie to scrub away the dead skin and turned the water on full cold. Cool water dripped down the front of her shirt but she ignored it and crawled under the covers of her lush bed.  
  
Icy lemon sunlight flittered through the windows of her room and cast shadows across the room when Kelly awoke. The sheets were tangled at her feet as she had slept fitfully the night before and she kicked at them to get free. She ran a hand through her hair and looked at her reflection in the mirror. Ugly yellow bruises were beginning to form under her eyes and marred her freshly tanned skin. She had to make a choice and this was one that she couldn't put off, as much as she wished she could.  
  
She went to find Jillian but her soul sank when she was still asleep. Kelly resided herself by sitting in a chair by Jillian's window while she watched her, she gazed around the room and gave a little smile, blue magnolias today, she thought to herself. Kelly didn't know how long had passed before Jillian had began to stir and slowly wake, Her pretty brown hair that Kelly had always admired was knotted from sleep. Her eyes were wide and a brighter green then Kelly seemed to remember but wouldn't let anything derive her from the task at hand.  
  
"God what time is it?" Jillian murmured as she used a hand to shield the sunlight as she sat up, only to find that her one arm was still weak from sleep so that she only fell back down onto the bed. "7, but that's not important, I need to tell you something" Kelly went and sat on the edge of the bed when Jillian managed to drag herself back up instead of snuggling under the warm covers. "Ok then tell me," Jillian said and Kelly took a deep breath and began. "Firstly,"  
  
10 Minutes later when Kelly was done unloading everything on Jillian, she looked imploringly at Jillian and began to play with the petals of the magnolias in the urn. "You're telling me the truth?" Jillian asked after a moment. When Kelly nodded, all Jillian could do was push out a sigh through her pursed lips. "You need to tell Charles, it.this is really huge" "It was all so carefully orchestrated," Kelly said. "All that it needed to be perfect was for me follow my part and it would be done"  
  
"But you didn't," Jillian murmured and looked up at Kelly through her long inky eyelashes. "Clay?" She said. Kelly shook her head. "He doesn't know. He doesn't have to know anything about this, I don't want him to" Jillian nodded in understanding. "And Logan, what about him?" Kelly dipped her head so that Jillian couldn't see the sadness creep into her eyes. "No, he doesn't know. None of them do"  
  
"You have to tell them" Kelly nodded but couldn't look at Jillian. Her voice was so soft and she was looking at her with such bloody patience that it made Kelly want to scream She would have been prepared if Jillian was shouting and throwing things, as she were sure that Logan would do when he found out, but that was an annoyance for later. "How did this happen?" Jillian asked and raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow.  
  
"It's a really long story how it actually happened, but it has, and now I don't know what to do" Jillian was silent for a moment. "I would tell Charles," She murmured and Kelly nodded. "I know I should, but God Jill I'm terrified of what's going to happen when THEY find out" Jillian hugged her reassuringly and switched sides so she could rub Kelly's hunched shoulders. "Why aren't you mad?" Kelly asked as she took the pleasure from the message in small doses. She supposed that if she took it all at once then she would forget what kind of horrible mess she was in.  
  
"Because I've seen some really horrible things, so I guess that, while mind you I don't agree with what you have done, isn't as bad as it could be, like if you had actually followed through with your instructions" Kelly nodded but still couldn't look Jillian in the eye. The mossy green depths were full of a kind of sympathy that Kelly wasn't sure she was able to accept just yet.  
  
When she left Jillian's room, she turned and found that Clay was right there and pressing her up against the wall with his hard body. "Hey beautiful" He murmured and tortured her with a kiss as smooth as he was. She didn't want him, she couldn't. She pushed at his body. "Clay stop," She managed to say as she dodged his mouth. "There's something I need to tell you,"  
  
She took his out of the mansion and towards the lake that lapped at the long cattails. "What do you need to tell me?" His voice was deep and roughened by lust, which gave Kelly the fleeting idea of a rogue Scottish warrior. "I'm nor who you think I am," She murmured and cast her eyes down to the ground.  
  
"What are you talking about?" He asked and was rather surprised to see the tears that had suddenly filled her honey-hued eyes.  
  
"My name isn't Kelly, it's Athena...like after the goddess" Clay's eyes darkened slightly as he pinned Clay with his intense stare. Kelly.Or Athena Collins as was her name, sighed softly. "Will you let me explain what happened?" She asked, still not looking at him but could feel his intense gaze on her. "Ok" He said softly. Athena took a deep breath and tried to will the tears out of her eyes, but in the attempt, one crystal tear slipped over.  
  
"When I was 5-years-old, my parents abandoned me, I was found wandering around an alleyway by a man named Eric Leincsher. He took me in and for eleven years I've lived with him and the others. It was a sort of 'my roof my rules' sort of relationship. He was the father I don't remember I had and I was the daughter I suppose he always wanted. He never made me work too hard.do a little research here.write a paper there, but it was always do-able,  
  
"Then he woke me up at 3 in the morning one day and told me that he needed me to do some hands-on research. He handed me this portfolio and it was all about Logan," She said as she looked back at the mansion rather sadly. "It was so thin I supposed that it wouldn't be that hard. He told me that all I would need to do was pretend to be someone I'm not. I've done it for him before that it wasn't much of a big deal. So for a little while I would be 'Kelly Morgan' the daughter of little Miss Rich Annie Morgan, and pretend to be Logan's daughter,  
  
"So I called the mansion when I knew he would be awake and told him where and when to meet me, he came and he ate the story right up once I showed him the picture of Annie I had. When I first met him I didn't feel any remorse for what Eric was making me do. But after Charles took me in, after I knew every one and really got to see more of the Logan then he wanted anyone to see. which was pretty much was Eric wanted, I decided that I wasn't going to do it any more.I wasn't going to help Eric hurt him  
  
"So when Raven Darkholme called, I told her I didn't want to do this anymore, she scolded me of course threatened to tell Eric so he would unleash his fury upon me.oh he never shouted or hit me anyway, but he would just talk very calmly and that's enough to make you fall to your knees. But.um.I guess it doesn't really matter anymore because after Raven tells him.I really don't want to think about what's going to happen. And that's it"  
  
Clay had began to chew on his thumb nail with extreme interest during Athena's speech and when he realized she was done, spit out the chewed nail and adjusted his jacket. "Well that is a pretty little mess," He said in between a sigh. "Have you told Logan?" He asked as he shifted his gaze from the discarded nail to her. "No," She said a tinge of fear in her voice, which had suddenly put on a pleasant Australian accent, which Clay suspected she had been hiding.  
  
"I can't force you to do anything Athena," He said smoothly, her name rolling off his Scottish tongue that Athena knew could be as sharp as a double-edged gilded sword. "But I suggest that you tell him, for the sake of everyone here. Now is not the time to be selfish" With this he rose and Athena expected him to walk away, but he outstretched a hand and helped her to her feet. She took it and immediatly felt hopeless. She crumpled against his chest and let the tears that she had tried so hard to maintain broke free and when he collected her in his arms, it was more then Athena could take, even if she was trying to be Kelly Morgan. 


End file.
